truant

American  

[troo-uhnt] / ˈtru ənt /

noun

1. a student who stays away from school without permission.

2. a person who shirks or neglects a duty.

   Synonyms:

   malingerer, loafer, layabout, shirker, idler

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adjective

1. absent from school without permission.

2. neglectful of duty or responsibility; idle.

3. of, relating to, or characteristic of a person who neglects a duty, responsibility, or required attendance.

verb (used without object)

1. to be neglectful of duty, responsibility, or attendence.

truant British  

/ ˈtruːənt /

noun

1. a person who is absent without leave, esp from school

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adjective

1. being or relating to a truant

verb

1. (intr) to play truant

Other Word Forms

• nontruant noun
• truancy noun
• truantly adverb
• untruant adjective

Etymology

Origin of truant

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English from Old French: “vagrant, beggar” from Celtic; compare Welsh truan “wretched, wretch”

Example Sentences

In June 1530 Hans Holbein the Younger was rounded up for being a truant from the Reformed Church and its newfangled Eucharist.

From The Wall Street Journal

The young Len still played truant but took himself down to the local library where he would often read all day.

From BBC

He was a serial truant and left school at 15 without learning to read or write.

From BBC

As one might have predicted, the trio of 14-year-old supposedly truant adolescents quickly overwhelmed the comic.

From Salon

Parents who allow their children to be chronically truant are hurting them and hurting us.

From Salon

Related Words

• absentee